Ecuador – (ECU2) – July 1st – July 28th

Welcome Global Works travelers, parents and friends.  We are excited to share with you trip updates from around the world.  As our main office receives updates from the trips we will update the page as we receive news from the field.

Update #1:
After a very long plane ride we arrived in Quito at 6:30am and then went directly to our hotel to sleep.

At noon we left the hotel and went for a sweet lunch in the old town of Quito. Later, we walked around the old town and saw ´La Conpania´ cathedral, which is completely covered in gold. We walked around in the rain until we arrived at a beautiful cathedral called ¨la basilica¨.  Everyone guessed it was made around the 1600s but to our shock we found out that it was actually made in the 1960s. We climbed to the top of both ends, where we got a view of Quito and the volcano, Cotopaxi. Tired, we returned to the hotel for some rest time before a pasta dinner.  Our leaders introduced us to our trip and our itinerary for the rest of trip. We settled in for an early night of rest before an early morning.

Tomorrow we are leaving Quito and going to lago cuicocha, which is a volcanic lake. On the way our leaders have told us that we will stop at ´mitad del mundo´and we will have a chance to stand in both hemispheres of the world!

On Sunday we are going to the hot springs where we will be staying while working in the town of Pucara. So far everyone here is doing well and we are looking forward to the rest of the trip!

 

Update #2: (July 3-July6)
After waking up in our amazing hotel, Los Alpes, in Quito, it was time to leave the city and head to the Northern Highlands of Ecuador. During our three hour bus ride we talked, listened to music and got to know each other even more. The view from the bus was amazing and most of us were mesmerized by the huge mountains and various towns. We arrived at Quitsato, the true center of the world, and took pictures in both hemispheres. After listening to a brief explanation about the equator, we got back on the bus and continued on our way to Lago Cuicocha. Once there, we had an incredible lunch and played team bonding games. Even though it was pretty cold out, a few people decided to take a swim in the volcanic lake! We finished the long and eventful day with a Noche Cultural and saw traditional dances and listened to folk music from Quechua culture. Even though the day started early, everybody in the group was happy to see new things and experience a different culture.

The following day we were faced with the reality of our altitude of about 10,000 feet! We embarked on our two hour hike around the rim of the crater surrounding Lago Cuicocha. We were breathless not only from the exercise but also the view. We were literally hiking in the clouds while surrounded by a sea of lush green tierra while looking down on an enormous sparkling lake.  After we ended the hike and caught our breath we headed to Nangulvi, home of the volcanic hot springs in the Intag region, which would be our home for the next 5 days. Although there were no fireworks, our 4th of July ended with a splash.

We woke up on our 5th day at Nangulvi with much curiosity as it was our first day of community service in Pucara. Before we started, we learned about the Intag region and town of Pucara itself, and the many problems the small pueblo faces much a result of out migration to the United States, Spain, and even Quito. Doing the work felt good as our efforts were going to a good cause. Our main task for the day was to collect rocks from a  river outside of Apuela, the ¨large¨ town down valley from Pucara. We stood in lines and passed rocks from the river to a large pick-up truck. Once the bed of the truck was full to the brim with many river rocks, we took them back to Pucara to use for the week building pathways, cement and retaining walls for the Casa Comunual, the largest building in the Intag region and host to numerous festivities which makes it a hot spot for economic stimulus that Pucara needs. The finale for the day was when the women of Pucara treated us to a hospitable meal. Despite witnessing the dark side to butchering a pig today at the town square we feasted on rice pork and savory soup. Today felt like one of what will be many milestones on this 28 day adventure.

During our second day of service we work up bright and early to board the bus to Pucara. It was a very hard day of work! We had to move rocks that weighed up to 30 pounds from one side of town to the other, make and mix cement, build retaining walls, construct a fence, and we had to dig holes knee deep for posts for a fence. We worked in the sun amongst the locals and gave our Spanish a try with much laughter between us. We ended the day with a tour of the local organic coffee coop called Cafe Rio Intag. We toured the factory and learned about the different types of coffee beans, the process of sorting and different qualities of beans. We all got a cup of coffee at the end. After, we visited  the finca, or farm, that grows all of the coffee. It was really cool because we could actually see how coffee grows, it actually looks like berries! At the end of the tour, the dueña of the finca, a sweet old woman gave us all a banana for a treat.

We are excited for the remainder of our service in Pucara, then its off to the market in Otavalo to buy sweet stuff!

 

Update #3:
Day 7: July 7
Today we woke up bright and early with a grand surprise of beautifully seasoned eggs. It was accompanied by a roll and bologna sandwich. After an eventful bus ride we arrived in Pucara. Our task for the day was to move a large pile of stones from the front of the church to the other side of town, after a lot of teamwork and cooperation, we finally got all of the rocks to the Casa Communual (community center) and received a well deserved break! We indulged in Fanta and chupetas (lolly pops) from the little bodega (store) in the center of town. We befriended the local niños and played an exciting game of Ecua Volli, which will probably be our game of choice for the remainder of the trip! After we left Pucara we drove to Apuela, which is at the bottom of a steep road from Pucara, and the leaders treated us to some ice cream for our hard work. To wrap up the day we retired to Nangulvi, our hotel and had a delicious dinner. It was a perfect closing to our first week in Ecuador! We are super excited for the next two days in Pucara working with the locals and doing community service.

Day 8: July8
We continued our work today in Pucara building a sidewalk, a bathroom and a fence for the garden. The older women of Pucara have been cooking a grand almuerzo, lunch, for us daily. It is incredible! Our lunch generally includes fresh juice rice, chicken, lentils, yucca, beans, potatoes, and our new favorite, soup with popcorn! All the food is fresh from the village. Today was our last day in Pucara, so the locals ended the day with a despidida, goodbye celebration. Though the rain poured, it didn’t stop the children from performing dances they prepared for us and some of the men sang songs accompanied by the guitar. It was sad to leave Pucara, as we met some kind people and grew attached to the community. They thanked us profusely for our work this week, and we thanked them for their hospitality. For our last night in Nangulvi we took a dip into the hotsprings in the pouring rain. The evening ended with skits in Spanish of potential homestay situation, for example, how would you say there is not toilet paper? The skits were humerous and got us into the mindset of thinking about our homestays. We are looking forward to the weekend in Otavalo and the week in Pijal with out homestay families!

Day 9: July 9
We awoke rested today because we had the luxury of sleeping one and a half hours later than we usually do! We kicked off our day with a routine breakfast of eggs, rolls and juice and proceeded to pack our bags and leave the Intag Region and head back to the Northern Highlands of Ecuador. We will miss the lush green valleys and endless clouds draping over the mountains.  On our way out, we had one more stop to make on the way, the Alto Choco cloud forest. We took a guided hike through the rain forests and learned about the local plants and medicinal trees. The terrain was muddy and slippery, and most importantly, beautiful! The trees had a Tarzanesque look to them and we felt like swinging on them through the forest. We had some great laughs out of each others mud filled shoes and numerous wipe outs. Our guides and family then made us a heavenly meal consisting of rice, chicken, soup, plantains, pinapple juice and lemon pound cake! We arrived in Otavalo a few hours later and settled into our beautiful and cozy hotel. The day ended with an interesting meal, a stop at the grocery store. TIE-This is Ecuador 2010!

Day 10: July 10
Market Day! We woke up excited for the Otavalo Market, one of the biggest and most famous craft markets in all of Latin America! The leaders started the day with a quick lesson on bargaining at the market. We all felt pretty prepared to be unleashed on the sea of bags , scarves, jewelry, paintings and much more. Everyone went off in groups to try there best to bargain for goods, and buy beautiful crafts for themselves and loved ones. At the end of the afternoon pockets were empty and arms were full of colorful Ecuadorian goods. To finish off the day we drove on top of a mesa overlooking Otavalo to the Parque Condor, which is a refuge for Condors and many other beautiful and endangered birds. During out tour we learned that the birds at the refuge were all rescued because they were ill or injured, and were nursed back to health at the refuge. Another interesting fact we learned is that there are only 40 condors left in Ecuador. This was sad to hear because after seeing this grand and magnificent bird with a wingspan of 7 feet you can{t help but hope they can sustain themselves as a species. The day ended with a bang… Pizza! We had all been craving a little taste of home and the pizza did not disappoint. We ate and laughed knowing that this week in the homestay will be one of the most challenging, but probably most rewarding trips thus far. Off to Pijal!

 

Update #4: July 11-July 18
July 11: Today marked the start of the homestay. The day began with a palpable tension during breakfast. What if my homestay family doesn’t like me? What if I can’t understand a word of that espanol everyone keeps talking? Or worse, what if I have the spend the next seven days taking more cold showers? Nervousness aside, we focused on sorting through a mountain of laundry, only to find almost everyone was missing a sock! (needless to say, everyone is very happy with their homestay families and it has been an incredible experience).

Eventually we made it onto the bus (hurray, our bus driver Patricio is back!) and headed for Pijal, the town where are homestays were to be held. After a tour of the town which happened to involve falling in mud and water for a few select individuals, we had lunch together anxiously awaiting meeting our families. Carrying our excess luggage up winding cobbled roads, we eventually stumbled on our humble abodes, our new homes for the next 7 days.

July 13: Today was another day filled with community service work and of course, fun! We got the opportunity to mix cement, build a garden, and construct a greenhouse. Everyone was enthusiastic about the work and was grateful for the opportunity to better the community. After working, we went up to the “casa de demonstracion” to learn about various medicinal plants and how indigenous people use these plants to cure many illnesses. This was an interesting perspective for all of us to learn about how Ecuador uses its local flora and fauna as medicine.
It is heavily influenced by spirits and legends. The shaman of the town, Felicano, helps rid evil spirits from those who are sick. After this lovely experience we all spent quality time with our homestay families. We ate together and played various games.

July 14: Today was a day of descanso, rest. Well, at least a rest from working. The group along with many members of the community headed about an hour from Pijal to scale the infamous volcano Fuya Fuya. Battling cold weather and rain, half of our group managed to reach the summit of Fuya Fuya after an exhausting and damp hike. Standing at 14,000 feet, those who made it celebrated with hoots and hollers before diving into our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a wonderful break from the endless sea of soup we have been experiencing since we arrived in Pijal. Although the view from the top was skewed from the clouds, everyone who made it enjoyed the hike because it was physically grueling and a great challenge to have conquered. After arriving with muddy butts back to the bus, the group returned to Pijal for a warm delicious dinner, soup, of course!

July 15:
When we made it to the work site and started digging, the rain started pouring. We are used to it by now, it rains every afternoon in Ecuador. But today it made an early appearance thus putting a delay on our community service. The women of Pijal cooked us a warm delicious lunch to warm us up while we danced to the indigenous music of the Northern Highlands when a group of college students from the University of Ibarra spoke to us about ecotourism and indigenous culture. They ended their chat with wonderful singing and dancing. Not bad for a rainy day!

July 16: On our second to last day of community service in Pijal, we enjoyed a warm bowl of soup and tortillas for breakfast and headed up to work. Today we dug out behind a building to make a sidewalk, built a roof over the composting pile, planted vegetables in a garden, and constructed trails. After work our group taught English to the children in Pijal. We played Pictionary, Simon Says, Head-shoulders-knees and toes, tug of war, duck duck goose, and ended the night with some face painting. The kids were too cute. Sadly, tomorrow is our last day here, Que Lastima! But we have still done much to help this community, and for that we are proud.

 

Update #5:
July 19:  It was 6:45 when we left Los Alpes in Quito to embark on our journey to Cotopaxi National Park. We searched around until we found a lovely Ecuadorian restaurant along the Panamericana with a perfect view of Los Ilinizas to devour eggs, bread, coffee and juice. After breakfast we rapidly ascended to the base of Cotopaxi Volcano. Standing at 19,000 feet, it is the tallest active volcano in the world. At the base we stood at about 15,000 feet gasping for each breath. We were bundled up in our long underwear, fleece jackets and wool hats, and we were still cold! We retrieved our helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads at the base of the mountain that instilled a good amount of fear in all of us.  At the base of the mountain there was a spectacular view of glaciers and endless blue sky. As our guide gave us a pep talk about safety and mountain biking at 15,000 we sucked in the thin air and mounted our bikes. At first, the steep slopes and rocky roads were intimidating, but once we got going it was a thrill ride. The sights unbelievable, high alpine tundra turned into rolling hills which turned into extinct volcanoes. It was a sight to behold. After the bike ride we retired to our hotel in a town called Machachi. The hotel, La Estacion, was a gorgeous old converted train station. We took a break from our traditional Ecuadorian fair, rice potatoes and soup, and indulged in hamburgers, french fries and chicken nuggets! We ended the perfect day with ice cream and fresh baked pastries.

July 20: White Water Rafting Day!
This morning we had another early wake up call. We had to leave the hotel by 7 to get to Santo Domingo for our big day of white water rafting on the Rio Blanco. We descended a gorgeous valley and thousands of feet to reach the river. We started out with our wool hats and fleece jackets and met the river in t shirts and shorts.

White water rafting was an insane amount of fun. Since we just watched Pirates of the Caribbean on the bus, it was only appropriate to use names such as “The Black Pearl” for our rafts. There were a few close calls as people fell into the rapids, but that was all a part of the fun and adventure. They were promptly rescued there boat mates, and smiling soon after. The rapids we descended were mostly class 3, with one class 4 rapid named “Sappo” Our heart rates increased tenfold while descending Sappo, without incident! During the calm and rapidless portions we jumped off our rafts into the calm river and played amongst each other’s rafts with surprise attacks. The day ended with a burrito buffet, nice! Back to Quito for some Pizza this evening, and off to Los Galapagos manana!

 

Update #6:
Wow! What an exciting four days we have had as a group here in the Galapagos Islands! After an early flight from Quito on Wednesday morning we met our two naturalist guides, Eduardo and Zambo, then we completed a two hour boat crossing from Santa Cruz to Isla Isabela in the afternoon and quickly found ourselves walking down sand streets towards the beach. Although the water out here is cold we quickly had company in the form of a sea lion swimming with the group only a few meters off of the shore of the beach. The next morning we got up early so we could hike around the caldera of Sierra Negra, the second largest caldera in the world. Unfortunately the top of the caldera was covered in mist and fog so we were not able to see much once we reached the summit of our hike. We decided to head back down to our hotel for an early lunch so we could be fitted with snorkels, fins and wetsuits for our afternoon on the water. We split into two boats and headed out into the harbor to visit the small volcanic island of Isla Tintorera. Tintorera is nearly covered in marine iguanas and we took lots of pictures as we walked around the island. Then we got back into the boats, put on our snorkel gear and got ready to swim with sharks! The Island’s name comes from the Spanish word ‘tintorera’ which refers to white tipped reef sharks, a nocturnal vegetarian. We swam through a small channel about a hundred yards long packed with sleeping tintorera sharks. Then we finished off our first full day in the Galapagos by swimming with rays, sea lions, and sea turtles. On Friday morning we checked out a turtle breeding ground before making the crossing back to Santa Cruz. Yesterday in the afternoon we went to Tortuga bay and played some beach soccer or laid in the sand. This morning we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center before making our final crossing to Isla Cristobal, and we arrived without anyone getting sick on any of our three crossings! Tomorrow we have a big day of snorkeling at Bahia del Lobo and Kicker Rock where we will see a huge diversity of sea life. So far everyone is healthy and happy here in the Galapagos and we are not sure we will be ready when it is time to fly back to Quito on Monday.